Netanyahu elected Israeli prime minister

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid conceded defeat to rival Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. A near-final vote count showed that Netanyahu’s coalition would have a majority of seats in Israel’s Knesset, or parliament. Netanyahu and his ultranationalist, ultra-Orthodox allies captured 64 seats out of 120 available. His opponents, led by Lapid, won 51 seats. The remainder is held by a small, unaffiliated Arab party. Netanyahu is expected to form the most right-leaning government in the history of modern Israel when he takes power.

What is Netanyahu’s coalition? His top partner in the government is expected to be the far-right Religious Zionism party, an Orthodox Jewish and right-leaning party. It has promised to pass a law that would allow lawmakers to override decisions made by the highest court in Israel.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report from the WORLD archives about Israel and Palestine swapping blows last year in Gaza.